What do you guys think of Kent Armstrong pickups?
- Thread starter big_black
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Randy Combs
New member
Re: What do you guys think of Kent Armstrong pickups?
My wife has the 13k humbucker in the neck of her Tele and it sounds really good. Not muddy at all, just nice and thick sounding. My guitars have Duncan Pearly Gates, EMG, WCR and Duncan Designed pickups and the Armstrong is pretty darn good.
My wife has the 13k humbucker in the neck of her Tele and it sounds really good. Not muddy at all, just nice and thick sounding. My guitars have Duncan Pearly Gates, EMG, WCR and Duncan Designed pickups and the Armstrong is pretty darn good.
Tony_H
New member
Re: What do you guys think of Kent Armstrong pickups?
I have the S-90 (neck) and S-90HR (hot, reverse polarity bridge) pickups - basically P-90 clones. They are not the true Kent Armstrongs though - they're made by Sky Pickups in Asia. Still they are pretty good - fat and cutting at the same time. I like them so much that I plan on ordering a custom guitar for them - something like the SG Special (Live At Leeds Rules!).
I have the S-90 (neck) and S-90HR (hot, reverse polarity bridge) pickups - basically P-90 clones. They are not the true Kent Armstrongs though - they're made by Sky Pickups in Asia. Still they are pretty good - fat and cutting at the same time. I like them so much that I plan on ordering a custom guitar for them - something like the SG Special (Live At Leeds Rules!).
H
Heretic
Guest
Re: What do you guys think of Kent Armstrong pickups?
The Kent Armstrong hb-sized P-90's I've tested are articulate and are close to the "legit" P-90 sound. They sound better than the Rio Grande Bastards imo.
The Kent Armstrong hb-sized P-90's I've tested are articulate and are close to the "legit" P-90 sound. They sound better than the Rio Grande Bastards imo.
Re: What do you guys think of Kent Armstrong pickups?
I have a Tri-Sonic Korean made set which are OEM in my Burns Double-Six. I really can't rave about them per se, but they now do the job well enough after I did some SERIOUS rewiring to the guitar and the pickups themselves.
I can't say the Tri-Sonics sound like a cross between a Strat and a P-90 as everyone would presume. Annoyingly, these pickups are identical as in, not calibrated for their respective positions. They are in fact, pretty loud though with extremes in their inherent frequency response. Meaning, the neck pickup is too bassy, the middle pickup is too midrangey, the bridge pickup is too trebly and of course, the closer to the neck the pickup is, the predominantly louder it is. As to the hum, they are on par with what they are.
They have ceramic bar magnets OEM too. There is a plastic plate underneath the cover which gives the illusion of polepieces due to the six holes in each pickup's cover. This construction prevents superior string balance and pickup height adjustment.
Per my VOM, this trio evidently are all the "Vintage" models which apparently are the same as the ones in the current Burns Brian May Signature Guitars if that means anything to anyone.
I would have changed these pickups out in a heartbeat for pretty much anything with Alnico Vs and a more efficient pickup/string balance design but not only aren't there any 'standard' pickups out there which retrofit, but even the OEM magnets are of a smaller, unique size. On general principle, securing custom pickups and/or a custom pickguard simply isn't practical for an electric, solid body 12 string these days.
On the up side and FWIW, the Tri-Sonics do in fact, look pretty cool.
I have a Tri-Sonic Korean made set which are OEM in my Burns Double-Six. I really can't rave about them per se, but they now do the job well enough after I did some SERIOUS rewiring to the guitar and the pickups themselves.
I can't say the Tri-Sonics sound like a cross between a Strat and a P-90 as everyone would presume. Annoyingly, these pickups are identical as in, not calibrated for their respective positions. They are in fact, pretty loud though with extremes in their inherent frequency response. Meaning, the neck pickup is too bassy, the middle pickup is too midrangey, the bridge pickup is too trebly and of course, the closer to the neck the pickup is, the predominantly louder it is. As to the hum, they are on par with what they are.
They have ceramic bar magnets OEM too. There is a plastic plate underneath the cover which gives the illusion of polepieces due to the six holes in each pickup's cover. This construction prevents superior string balance and pickup height adjustment.
Per my VOM, this trio evidently are all the "Vintage" models which apparently are the same as the ones in the current Burns Brian May Signature Guitars if that means anything to anyone.
I would have changed these pickups out in a heartbeat for pretty much anything with Alnico Vs and a more efficient pickup/string balance design but not only aren't there any 'standard' pickups out there which retrofit, but even the OEM magnets are of a smaller, unique size. On general principle, securing custom pickups and/or a custom pickguard simply isn't practical for an electric, solid body 12 string these days.
On the up side and FWIW, the Tri-Sonics do in fact, look pretty cool.
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Re: What do you guys think of Kent Armstrong pickups?
I have a M213 I think it's called?? It's their PAF model. I had a cheap guitar that it came in and even though it sounded good I figured like most on this board if it's not Duncan, it's crap.....WRONG!!
I swapped it out for a '59n and it was a completely downgrade....this pickup has it all over the '59n IMO. It is more sweet sounding than the '59 but without the loose boomy bottom end that you don't want in the neck. The Kent Armstrong went right back in and I quickly sold the '59.
I have a M213 I think it's called?? It's their PAF model. I had a cheap guitar that it came in and even though it sounded good I figured like most on this board if it's not Duncan, it's crap.....WRONG!!
I swapped it out for a '59n and it was a completely downgrade....this pickup has it all over the '59n IMO. It is more sweet sounding than the '59 but without the loose boomy bottom end that you don't want in the neck. The Kent Armstrong went right back in and I quickly sold the '59.
